That Kind of a Rumour
by deluce
Summary: Chad has been in a relationship for two years, and always thought he was happy, but then this girl shows up with her big brown eyes, and bright smile and turns his world upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**A slight AU, still set in Hollywood but with the characters being slightly older and on a different show. I own nothing you recognise in this story.**

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**First Day (Chad)**

Chad pushed the heavy, squeaking door to Condor studios open with a slight struggle, he ducked inside quickly, with his breathing slightly ragged, after the unusually high Californian autumn breeze had taken it away from him. He entered the studio and shut the door behind him as fast as he could. He sighed with a self satisfied smile at the fact that he had managed to enter the studio unseen by anyone that he knew, and or deemed important in his current red cheeked and damp and tussled haired state. But more importantly to Chad, he was both happy, and impressed that he had been able to avoid any run ins with the paparazzi looking like he currently did.

The last couple of months had been crazier than usual for the young star on the paparazzi front. They had been everywhere he went, more so than usual. For the last few months, they had been outside his apartment, outside Condor studio-among other places- all trying to get candid shots of him and the other stars of Condor Studio's newest show, _Students_, a comedy show about a group of college students, that had been hyped up to be 'This generations Friends'. The show is due to start airing it's first episode within a few months, meaning that is they are going to stay on schedule, the cast and crew have to start filming as soon as possible.

He checked his phone for the time, only to realise that he had arrived at the studio a little early than asked, seven minutes earlier to be exact. But, Chad Dylan Cooper being early for anything, let alone work (The boy had appeared in various different TV shows as a one off character, or a minor recurring character in the past), was a rarity, and happened about as frequently as a leap year. Chad was notorious for being late, but he was a good actor, and that worked in his favour.

Chad looked around the all but empty studio, looking for signs of someone from hair and make-up who could make him look more presentable, as well as looking for any familiar faces of the few cast members he had met on publicity shoots and a few interviews. There were still two actors he had yet to meet, while he was searching for these people in the all but empty building, his eyes fell onto one of his fellow stars, and a somewhat 'Frienemy' of his from high school, Tawni Hart.

The blonde girl was sat on a fold out directors chair near the doughnut cart, and as usual she was looking at her reflection in her compact mirror, and apparently, she was liking what she saw. Chad sighed once more and rolled his eyes as he walked towards the girl, _at least talking to her will buy some time_, he thought. He took the seat next to her, Tawni saw Chad from her peripheral vision and said, "Well as I live and breath, Chad Dylan Cooper is early for something." She turned to face the boy closing her compact mirror. "Wow," she said there was a small laugh in her voice, her bright eyes widened as she took in the sight of the windswept boy to her side.

She didn't need to say anything more than this to send Chad into a state of panic. He snatched the mirror from her and frantically checked his own reflection. As soon as he saw himself in the mirror he realised, that while he had looked better, that even with his hair stuck out in all different directions, thanks to the wind; that he could have looked worse, much worse. But still, this thought didn't stop him from running a hand through his hair trying to neaten it out before anyone else could see him looking like this. He turned to face the blonde to his side, who was laughing hysterically. He narrowed his eyes at the blonde who tried to curb her laughter. It was hard, she really couldn't not laugh at him when he reacted this way. Tawni teased everyone she knew like this, but she got so much more enjoyment out of watching Chad freak out then anyone else. It had always been that way. Ever since they met six years ago at the age of fifteen.

"You know," Chad said, "You don't look as good as you think you do." He continued, "And you definitely aren't as funny as you think you are, so good look with this new comedy show." Chad snarked. Tawni rolled her eyes, she snatched her mirror back from him and opened it up again, before she started to apply more of her favourite lipstick, for what Chad could easily guess was at least the second time in an hour.

"Oh please," she said, "You of all people know that I am pretty and hilarious." She replied. The tone of her voice suggested that she thought, and knew this all too well. It was Chad who rolled his eyes this time, though he had gotten used to her narcissism, sometime ago actually, it still never failed to amaze him, just how egotistical she could be. Even though he himself could be very narcissistic at times. He liked to believe that, if it ever came down to a contest between the two of them on who had the biggest ego, that she would win.

Chad turned away from Tawni and looked around the room, watching as the crew sat or walked around with tired looks on their faces. He guessed it was true; no matter what your job is, you hate it. Or at least that's what people have told him in the past. It's safe to say that Chad can vouch for that statement, even though he is an actor, and is living his dream, there have been times he has dreaded going into work, to do a scene that would last roughly five minutes if he was lucky.

"Why did Mr. Condor want us here so early?" Chad asked in a sullen tone, he pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time once more to see that is was almost ten, which meant that the other cast members would, or should, be there soon, and the day's work could begin. Chad hated working in the morning, mainly because he hated waking up early in the mornings.

"Stop complaining." Tawni replied, she closed the mirror with a small, yet happy and content sigh. She turned to face Chad and said, "Yes, we had to be up early, I'll admit that I would have liked to have stayed in bed just a little longer." She continued, "But this is the first day of rehearsal, and soon we'll be filming, and making money." She beamed, her smile growing the more she thought about it, "And once the show starts to air, people will want more interviews, getting us more publicity and more work." She shrugged, "I like the sound of that." She said, "Besides, today is the first day that the six stars of the show are going to be all together at the same time. So Marshall and Mr. Condor wanted us here early so we could all meet each other properly."

"So who is it that you haven't met yet, then?" Chad asked, they had all seen pictures of each of the cast members, Chad had made sure that he had scouted them all out by watching clips of them acting in previous things online. He had wanted to make sure that they weren't all talentless, or worse, better than him. This was something that Chad worried about. He didn't mind so much with the actresses, he just liked knowing there wouldn't be much competition between him and the other males on set.

"Grady and Nico," Tawni replied dryly, the look on her face gave the impression that the two names had left a bad taste in her mouth. "Just seeing their head shots was enough to let me know that I don't want to know these boys." She said. Tawni paused and looked down at her nails before looking back up at Chad, "What about you?" She asked.

"Grady and Nico," Tawni replied dryly as if their names left a bad taste in her mouth, "Just seeing their head shots and watching them act was enough to let me know, I don't want to know them." She said, she paused and looked down at her nails before asking, "What about you?"

"Grady and some girl called Sonny." He replied.

"Yeah. I've met her." Tawni said screwing her face up slightly.

"Wait, what's that face for?" Chad asked with a slight panicked chuckle.

"Nothing." Tawni said with a small shrug, "All I am going to say is wait until you meet her." The blonde girl turned her mouth down as id meeting Sonny was going to be a bad, no terrible thing. This instantly put Chad on edge. he had seen pictures of Sonny in magazines, and even in the form of her head shot, he had also seen clips of her acting, all he knew about this girl is that she had talent, and beauty, she had them both in spades. But Tawni had actually met the girl, and there was something in the way she spoke about her that made Chad feel ominous about meeting her.

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**This is my first SWAC story, so I apologise if anyone is OOC; I am trying my best. So this was just a short chapter as a sort of introduction. The chapters in this story will alternate between Chad and Sonny third person POV. Please read and review, let me know what you think. **


	2. Chapter 2

**First Impressions (Sonny)**

Sonny stepped out from the warmth of the bright yellow taxi cab and out into the wind and rain. She pulled her hood up and thanked the driver with a cheery smile. She waved at him as he drove away. The wind had picked up slightly since she had woken up early that morning. The cold air now took Sonny's breath away. The strong gusts of wind made her stumble backwards from their force. It was more good luck than management that kept Sonny on her feet. She had her hands on either side of the large hood of her jacket, gripping it tightly too prevent the wind from blowing it anywhere. The last thing Sonny wanted was to look a mess on her first day.

She squinted against the heavy wind and rain, she sighed and took a look around her, taking in every one of her surroundings, she looked up at the large white studio in front of her. The first thing that she noticed was the large poster hanging outside the building. The picture featured the six main characters or _Students_, it was the image that they had been using a lot to sell the new show, there were more pictures Sonny had seen them in smaller editorials in magazines, but it had been this image that had proven the most popular in the media. Though Sonny had her picture taken separately from the other cast members, as she assumed they all had, the final image had been edited to make it look like the six of them were together in a college dorm room surrounded by books and empty beer bottles, each of them had messy hair, and the girls had slightly smudged make up to give the effect of them having hangovers. Sonny couldn't not smile at the image, and the girl found it hard to keep her eyes off of herself. She was more than impressed with the Photoshop skills that had been used in crating this one image.

Now that she was actually in LA and was stood outside Condor Studios- a place she would soon be spending a good portion of her time, doing something that she had always dreamed of- everything seemed much bigger than she ever thought it would. Though, to herself at least, Sonny seemed smaller. Much smaller. The butterflies that had been pestering her for the past few weeks were back, and with a vengeance. They were going wild in the pit of her stomach, making the young actress feel nauseous and uneasy.

She had tried to calm herself down numerous times within that morning alone. Though all of her attempts had been to no avail. Multiple times she had tried to tell herself that today was no big deal, and was nothing to worry about, that she should be excited not scared. She knew that she had faced experiences in her life that were worse than this one. Still, she found it hard to believe her own words, she doubted herself, this was something that Sonny had always had to deal with, but never more than now. She kept telling herself, that she could be replaced at any moment, she would tell her self this over and over again in her head, like some kind of mantra. They hadn't even started to film yet, all they had been able to release had been small clips of screen tests and small clips of their auditions. Sonny knew that all it would take from her would be one false move, and her dream could be over before it had even begun.

Sure, people from the press knew that she had been cast. and was due to play a crucial role in the new show, but to have her cut from it, and be replaced by one of the other actresses who had auditioned, would be like a gold mine to the press. Sonny knew that they yearned for things like that to happen, it's what they lived for. This fact was something the struck fear deep inside Sonny, and scared her to her very core. She had seen people be axed from a show before after a pilot episode had aired, more than once.

It was at night that Sonny's fears and nerves reached their pinnacles. At night she had nothing to do to take her mind off of it. All she could do was let her mind wonder as she laid in bed. Her mind would always wonder to those dark crevasses of her mind where her fears and doubts lived. She worried about it so much that it kept her from sleeping. She had lost count of how many times she had woken her mother with a late night phone call, or had even woken her sister and room-mate, Lynn. Sonny had always been able to rely on the two of them. They were some sort of stability in her life, any problem that she had she would tell them about it. She would ask their advice, or even drop subtle hints about something before going into a full story about how she was feeling, just to see what they would make of her situation. Lynn and their mother, Connie, had always been Sonny's confidants. She had very little secrets that she couldn't tell at least one of them.

It was easy for Sonny to express her fears and feelings to both of them. She didn't even need to think about it, she could just sit down with them, and pour out her soul; she knew neither of them would judge her, especially when she needed to discuss things like this. It was more often than not that the two older Monroe girls would give Sonny the same advice. Lately both of them had been telling her that she has nothing to worry about, and that she was an incredibly talented and funny girl who deserves everything she had.

Still, Sonny couldn't help but tell herself that they were morally obligated to tell her these things. After all, one of them was her mother and the other was her elder sister and best friend. Even if they thought she was going to flop, she knew they wouldn't tell her that, well, Lynn might but her mother wouldn't dream of it. Lynn always could be a little critical, which is why Sonny trusted her opinion so much.

For a while now, Lynn had been telling her that the rehearsal process meant nothing, and that weren't even anything that she should be worrying about. That she would breeze through them easily enough and would be off book before she knew it, making money doing what she loved the most and what she was best at.

It was more than just the prospect of learning lines and rehearsing that was scaring Sonny. She had done that many times before in the past, she had been in a couple of commercials, and had played characters that had appeared once or twice in one or two episodes of shows- this included voice over parts in animated TV shows- she had also performed in off Broadway shows, and had had a small role in a Broadway production of _Westside Story._ Most of her acting opportunity's she had had recently had come from the college she attended until the summer. Casting agents would sometimes show up at the performances, and obviously, her agent helped.

Sonny had spent a year studying at a performing arts college in New York, it was only when she found about _Students _after her agent- who she had been with for years now- contacted her with the news of a new show that had a character she would be 'just perfect' for. Sonny had decided to throw caution to the wind, and take a leap of faith by travelling from New York to LA to audition for the role of Jenna Mitchell. She had attended her first audition and had breezed through it. Once she had had a couple of call backs, which seemed promising, she decided to drop out of college, leave New York and make the move to California. She wouldn't have ever dreamed of moving full time to LA had she not known someone who lived there. With Lynn studying in California, and having her own place, she had used her sister as a safety net, knowing she would take her in.

Even if it hadn't worked out for her, and her plan had back fired meaning she had to bus tables until the next acting opportunity presented it's self, she knew she would have somewhere to stay and call home. Sonny knew that leaving college to chase her dream had been a little stupid, and had been a huge risk- which had paid off- it was risk that she couldn't not take. She would rather lose everything knowing that she tried than live her life wondering 'what if?'

She loved acting, she always had, even when people at school had told her it was a waste of time, and there was very little chance of her making it, because not many people ever did, she wouldn't listen, it's what she wanted and she was determined not to stop until she got it. It was her dream. Her dream started with her studying in New York- though in her dream she had actually graduated rather than dropping out- after college came the move to LA to make it big in Hollywood. She hadn't anticipated that she would have this by the time she was nineteen. She had tried to break into acting since she was little, and had attended many auditions in the past but hadn't had any real luck until she got into middle school. That's when she had landed her first commercial. But it wasn't until now that she had achieved any major success.

Now, she couldn't wait for filming to begin, she wanted rehearsals to be over, so that they could film the first season, and people could see the show, she couldn't wait to see it herself once it had been put together, she had read and reread parts of the script and had fallen in love with the characters and story lines, she had laughed at the jokes, and couldn't wait to see how they translated when they were acted out.

Or at least, that's how she felt at the beginning, there is still the under laying excitement, mixed with the bundle of nerves that knot in her stomach as the butterflies relentlessly flap their wings. Then there is the nagging feeling lodged deep within the confines of her mind, to say the least Sonny Monroe is currently a mess.

Ever since she had gotten the phone call from Marshal Pike, the executive producer and casting director of _Students_, saying she had got the part Sonny had started to feel the butterflies, at first, she put it down to the excitement of achieving her dream and having a new job, sure, she knew a small amount of it was nerves. But as the days became nights, and she came closer and closer to her first day of rehearsal, the butterflies seemed to get more persistent, and her anxieties started to grow, it was then that Sonny realised fear had a small amount to do with how she was feeling.

They were stupid fears, and somewhere, deep down she new that. But that didn't stop the small voice in her head saying she didn't belong in LA, and that the city was far to big for a small town girl like herself. She felt she wasn't quite right for the glamorous life of Hollywood, and that LA and California were more suited to her sister, Sonny believed that Lynn was the Monroe who truly belonged here.

Her fears had only been intensified when she had watched clips of her fellow cast members acting, that had been when her worry had truly kicked in. She couldn't help but compare herself to the other actresses and actors. Today she had the added fear of meeting the last two cast mates she would be working with; a young girl named Zora Lancaster, who was the youngest member of the cast. Since Zora was still in high school she only had a minor recurring role, she was going to be playing Sonny's little sister in the show, and was scheduled to appear in ten of the twenty-four episodes in season one. She had been slightly envious of Zora when she first watched her act and read about her, she was four years younger than Sonny, and had already reached Hollywood, she had had her first job when she was a child. Other than Zora Sonny had only one more person to meet, Chad Dylan Cooper. A boy who she had heard enough about to last her a life time.

Though Chad wasn't am A list celebrity, he was well known he also liked to think that he was a big deal. Most of the things Sonny had heard about had been bad. She had read that he could be very demanding, and a little bit of a diva, while also thinking that he was god's gift to women. The only good thing she had ever heard about Chad was that he could act, of course she had found this out when she watched clips of him online. He had talent, a lot of it, that was something Sonny couldn't deny. It was also something that he knew about himself, maybe all too well.

She had seen images of both Chad and Zora, and since she was yet to meet them, all Sonny had were their looks as a source of first impressions. Sonny didn't like to judge people, and hated when people were judged for how they looked, and hated those that judged people by their looks even more. So, she cleared her head on everything she had seen of them, and even tried to clear her mind on what she had heard about Chad, for all she knew they were false. She wanted to have an open mind on her situation.

She took a deep breath and tried to steady her nerves the best that she could. She took her first step towards Condor Studios, with her heart beating rapidly in her chest, she could feel her hands shaking by her sides. Never before had she felt nerves like this. Even when she first moved away from Wisconsin, she wasn't this scared.

As she walked into the studio her mouth fell slightly agape, she looked around trying to soak up every aspect and facet of the building. She wanted to remember everything. Every sight that she saw, every scent that she smelt, and every sound that she heard. She had achieved her dream, a dream she had been working hard for for years. A dream she knew she had a very slim chance of actually achieving. All the small parts she had had here and there, the commercials she had done to pay her dues, they had all boiled down to this.

Sonny continued to slowly make her way through the studio, she didn't want to rush past anything. She had been told to meet with the rest of the cast on the set down at stage two. The building was all but empty.

The emptiness didn't change any as Sonny got closer to stage two. She had hoped that she would see at least one familiar face upon her arrival, She had hoped that Grady or Nico would be somewhere near. She had built a small rapport with the two boys over the weeks since she met them. They had been easy to get along with during the screen tests. She would regularly meet up with one or both of them to get lunch or to go see a movie.

She pulled out her cell phone from her back pocket and quickly checked the time with shaking hands. She hoped that she hand't arrived to early and would be stuck waiting around for everyone else, or worse, she hoped she hadn't arrived late. She furrowed her brow when she saw that it was only just 10:00 a.m. She placed her phone back in her pocket and turned her mouth down in thought, they had been told to meet around ten, so where was everyone else? She thought as she continued to make her way through the building. She smiled at the odd crew member as she passed them by, though, they seemed to lack the enthusiasm that she had.

She reached stage two and pushed the doors open with ease. She walked onto the set with her eyes wide. The set had been made to look like a dorm room. There were two single beds on set, and a closet at foot of each, and a desk at the head of each bed, giving the actors and actresses little room to manoeuvre.

From what little of the script Sonny had seen, and had auditioned with, she recognised this setting as her first scene in the show, and one of the first scenes in the piloting episode. Sonny looked around quickly, making sure she wasn't being watched. When she saw that the coast was clear, she walked towards the set and began to assess the props and scenery. She dropped herself onto one of the beds and squealed quietly, kicking her legs slightly as she did. She jumped up and crossed the room to the closet.

She opened the closet and let out a startled scream, which was quickly followed by aq scream of a much higher pitch coming from inside the now open closet. Sonny stepped back with her hand over her heart, which was now beating wildly in her chest, though this time it was more from being startled more than from her nerves.

"Don't you knock?" A shocked voice asked, the own of the voice was breathing heavily, and was staring wide eyed at Sonny. She stepped from the closest, her eyes never leaving the dark haired girl.

"I-I'm sorry, I thought I was alone." Sonny explained, "I didn't realise anyone else was here, or in there." She said pushing the closet door to close it.

"Well it's to be hoped you would have actually knocked had you known. I like my privacy." The girl said, scowling slightly at her. She looked Sonny up and down taking in every inch of her, trying to figure her out. "Huh, you must be Sonny." She said pointing at her.

Sonny nodded her head and gave the girl a bright, wide smile. "Yeah I am," she said, "And you're Zora, right?" She beamed at the younger girl, looking down at her slightly. Though the girl was younger than Sonny, she realised there wasn't much between them in height. Sonny held her hand out for the younger girl to shake. Zora looked down at Sonny's hand and then back at her face with a quirked eyebrow. Sonny put her arm down when she realised that Zora wasn't going to reciprocate the hand shake.

"Yeah, I am." The younger girl replied.

"Well it's very nice to meet you." Sonny said.

"You know it's weird, Tawni told me about you." The smaller girl said, Sonny's smile never faltered, "Ha, she was way off." She said.

"Way off? " Sonny asked, "About what?" She said with a small , nervous chuckle. Though she feared that the blonde girl would talk about her when her back was turned- she knew how catty girls could be, especially in the show business world- she couldn't help but wonder what it was that the blonde girl had actually said to the others. Especially, if Zora claimed she had been wrong. Zora turned on her heel and started to walk away from the elder girl, "Off about what?" Sonny asked again, the panic soon returning to her body. Zora continued to ignore her as she walked away, leaving her alone, slightly confused and more panicked than before.

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**So here is chapter two, it's a little longer than the last chapter, I couldn't not have Sonny meet Zora in a similar way to on the show, it just seemed right to have this happen. Please read and review. Thanks to those that have already reviewed, I appreciate it, and thanks for the follow; RaInDroPs614. **


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